Aug. 20 at 12:06 AM
S&P Global Ratings revised its outlook on Air Products and Chemicals to stable from negative while affirming its ‘A’ issuer and issue-level ratings and ‘A-1’ short-term rating. The upgrade reflects management’s decision to exit high-risk projects, including the Louisiana clean-energy complex and Casa Grande liquid-hydrogen facility in Arizona. Although the exits generated about
$2.9 billion in pretax charges, S&P views them as credit-positive because they reduce spending on projects with uncertain returns. The Louisiana project had grown to
$8-
$9 billion from an initial estimate of about
$4.5 billion.
Air Products also lowered its capital-spending forecast to
$3.5 billion from
$4 billion. S&P-adjusted free operating cash flow turned positive on a trailing-12-month basis through March 2026, marking the first annual positive FCF since fiscal 2022. Funds from operations to debt improved to 30% in the 12 months through June 2026, from 25% a year earlier.
$APD